Boxing: Hamer Boxing Club fight reports

After another busy couple of weeks for Hamer Boxing Club, two boxers did the town proud when they reached the NABGC County Finals when boxing in Tameside on Sunday 30 October.

The first Hamer boxer to step into the ring that day was 14-year-old Austin “Powers” Heneghan, who was competing against Harvey Dootson of The Peoples Gym.

When the bell rang to start the first round, Austin came out of the red corner to meet Dootson in the centre of the ring, where both opponents unloaded lightning-fast combinations upon each other. As the round progressed, it wasn’t long before the Hamer boxer found his range and as he attacked, he continued to deliver telling blows to his opponent’s head. Whilst also stepping back onto his back foot when Dootson attacked, to offload some dazzling right-hand punches to the chin, which connected every time the Peoples Gym boxer stepped towards him.

Before the start of round two, Austin’s coach Steven Connellan told his boxer: “That was a terrific round,” and then asked him if he could step it up another gear because Connellan believed that his opponent’s corner would be asking Dootson to take it up another notch to get back into the fight.

However, when the bell rang to start the second round, both boxers did the total opposite when they came out to use their probing jabs whilst circling around the ring to keep their distance from each other. Then suddenly, Austin began to deliver more fast and furious combinations which connected every time Dootson stepped towards him. Midway through the round Austin received a solid right hand to the face from his opponent, which instantly brought blood trickling down his nose. The punch momentarily hindered his approach and briefly allowed Dootson to take up the momentum to continue to step towards his Hamer opponent with more telling blows, but after that short blip Austin continued to land his first and last punches after every exchange.

At the start of the third and last round Austin landed two terrific left hooks to his opponent's jaw, only to receive two solid right hand blows to his face, which suddenly brought more blood dripping from his nose. Dootson continued to try and land his right hand as he continued to step forward, but the left hook from his Hamer opponent became the punch of the round as it landed continuously to the side of the head as Dootson stepped into range. Just before the bell rang to end the contest, Austin showed who was in control when he landed another four unanswered blows to the head to take the fight with a unanimous decision.

Hamer coach Connellan had no time to celebrate Austin’s win, because another Hamer boxer, 15-year-old “Champagne” Charlie Braddock was fighting the very next bout against Jayden Leech of Majestic Boxing Academy. Although the very much taller Majestic boxer is only fifteen years old, he is a veteran of the ring with 26 wins in 40 bouts under his belt. Connellan told his boxer to continuously move in close to his opponent’s body whilst throwing punches, so that Leech couldn’t find his range.

The bell rang to start the first round and Charlie began to follow his coach’s instructions almost instantly when he dipped down chest height before coming back up to land a solid left hook to the chin. It wasn’t long before his much greater experienced opponent began to find his range and his momentum and Leech continuously stepped back to unload his punches as Charlie moved towards him.

Charlie continued with his come forward action by forcing his opponent onto the ropes, where Leech pushed his head down, which prompted the referee to tell the Hamer boxer to keep his head up. Most young boxers would have been discouraged by the referee’s actions, but somehow it was a wake-up call for Charlie who continued to land some terrific punches before the bell rang to end the round. Before the start of round two Charlie’s coach told him to keep pressing his opponent onto the ropes and to keep him there whilst landing punches to both the body and head so that Leech couldn’t find his range.

The bell rang and Leech came out using the ring to keep his range to land punches as Charlie attacked. This continued until the Hamer boxer’s forceful approach eventually began to take its tole upon the Majestic boxer, who began to hold onto his Hamer opponent every time Charlie forced him onto the ropes, which gained him three warnings from the referee.

Before the third and last round the Hamer coach told Charlie that Leech was slowing down and tiring, hence why he was holding. He suggested to Charlie to keep pressing, knowing that Leech would hold onto him which he hoped would gain a public warning from the referee. The noise decibels from the crowd reached into the sky whilst the bell rang to start the third and last round and it continued when “The Raging Bull” Charlie Braddock instantly stormed into his opponent to land a continuous barrage of punches upon Leech, who instantly forced the Hamer boxer’s head down with his gloves before receiving another warning from the referee. As soon as the referee administered the warning, Charlie stormed back into his opponent again to land more telling punches to both the body and head, before Leech pushed his head down again with both arms to receive yet another warning from the referee. Before the match could continue, the referee also warned the Majestic boxer’s corner for shouting out their displeasure in her decisions. As soon as the round recommenced, Charlie continued to force the action whilst Leech continued to hold and push his head down. Although he received no more warnings for his actions, this may have played a part in the judges decision to award the bout to Charlie by a majority decision.

 

 

Another fighter from Hamer Boxing Club was in action on Tuesday 25 October when 11-year-old “Harry” Harrison Wright fought his first ever bout for Hamer when he travelled to the Peaky Blinders public house in Manchester to meet local boxer Ethan McDermott of Walkden ABC. The bout was supposed to be a controlled skills bout but when the referee came to the blue corner to tell the head coach Steven Connellan that they were about to participate in an open bout, he didn’t blink an eye, knowing that Harrison was more than capable in putting in an outstanding performance.

When the bell rang to start the first round the Hamer coach was proved right when he saw Harrison step out into the middle of the ring to land an incredible over-hand right to the chin of his opponent. From there on Harrison began to work on his jab whilst moving around the ring. Then as his confidence grew even more, he stepped forward with his double jab, followed by a smashing right hand to the chin. The young Hamer boxer also threw his jab to his opponent’s body before landing an overhand right to the head of McDermott, which brought about a warning from the referee for him to hold back on his power. The warning momentarily fazed Harrison, which allowed McDermott to come forward and throw multiple punches just before the bell rang to end the round.

Before the start of the second round the Hamer coach Steven Connellan told Harrison not to hold back because it was hindering his style of boxing and if the referee told him to, just nod in agreement whilst continuing to off load his punches. The bell rang for the second round and Harrison came out tentative at first. Not wanting to receive another warning from the referee, but when McDermott realised that his opponent was hesitating again, he attacked him relentlessly, which brought the noise decibels from his supporters sky high until Harrison realised that the referee hadn’t warned his opponent. So, he began to fight back with lightning fast punches to the chin, followed by a solid left hook to the side of the head as McDermott came towards him.

Feeling much more confident, Harrison came out for the third and last round to land more solid right hands to the chin, followed by left hooks to the side of the head, which instantly brought about another warning from the referee but this time he ignored the official and in the closing twenty seconds or so, both boxers set about each other to raise the volume in the room and when the bell rang to end the contest both boxers had their arms raised along with constant clapping and cheering from the appreciative crowd.

 

 

The action didn’t stop there for Hamer, when after only six months since entering the Hamer gym, 14-year-old “Charming” Alfie McKay made an incredible journey to the National Semi-Finals with victories over some credible opponents, only to lose to the eventual winner Martin Joseph Ward of Rainham Boxing Club, London, when they met at the Spiceball Leisure Centre in Banbury, Oxfordshire on Saturday 23 October.